This application relates generally to personal hydration systems, such as backpacks that carry water for use during exercise, and in particular to an electrically powered pump and a delivery tube that may be affixed to a hydration bladder of a personal hydration system. Such hydration systems are often used by participants in cycling, hiking, racing, skiing and other outdoor activities.
When exercising, participants often want to carry water or another hydrating liquid. This is particularly true when the participant is going a significant distance between possible water stops. Often, people do not want to carry a rigid or semi-rigid water bottle in their hands or backpacks.
Therefore, there are a number of hydration devices on the market today that improve upon the rigid water bottle commonly seen on bicycles and found in the backpacks of hikers. These hydration devices typically carry a larger volume of liquid, often use flexible bladders to hold the liquid, and typically have a tube coming out of the bladder from which the liquid can be dispensed. Hence, these hydration devices can be effective in keeping the end user hydrated during physical exercise or during hot weather. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,095,726; 4,420,097; 4,948,023; 5,060,833; 5,085,349; 5,282,557; 5,427,290; 5,645,404; 5,727,714; 5,722,573; 5,806,726; 5,864,880; 5,911,406; 5,941,640; 5,975,387; 5,984,145; 6,032,831; 6,039,305; 7,007,826; and 8,220,664; the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by this reference.
These hydration devices have other ancillary uses. For example, a larger hydration device that delivers liquid under pressure on demand would also be convenient in sharing of the liquid with a thirsty friend, washing out a wound, or washing dirt or mud off of a surface. These ancillary uses can be tricky when the liquid must be suctioned out, forced out by pushing on the bladder, or require gravity to cause the liquid to flow. Attaching a pump, such as a pump powered by squeezing or other exertion by the user, further complicates use of the hydration system because the pump interferes with many physical activities. In addition, prior devices may be difficult for athletes involved in physical exertion and high respiration rates to use. During such activity, it may take significant effort to stop breathing and to suck liquid from the hydration system.
Another prior attempt to provide liquid under pressure on demand involved including a tank or bladder, of air under pressure, attached to the regular hydration bladder of liquid (which in effect squeezes the hydration liquid bladder) to force the liquid through the output tube. Adding the additional volume of an air pressure bladder is wasteful of the limited space and inconvenient. In addition, the pressure curve (of the stored air pressure bladder) goes downward as liquid is used and thus must be periodically pumped up during the emptying of just one bladder. This causes the pressure of the liquid stream to be inconsistent. That is, the output stream of water from the bladder starts out strong but the pressure goes down with each use and is typically insufficient to empty a whole bladder of water, thus requiring the end user to carry a pump and to devote time and effort to re-pressurizing the system.
Thus, considerably less energy may be expended if the liquid from the hydration system could be automatically pumped through the drinking tube without the user expending significant effort or time. Such a system may give a competing athlete a measurable advantage over competitors. Furthermore, such a system would permit easy sharing of liquids with a friend, and may permit washing of a wound or dirty surface with what amounts to a low pressure stream of water.